Telephone numbering plans are systems that allow subscribers to make and receive telephone calls via telephone networks. The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is a system that uses three-digit area codes and seven-digit telephone numbers to direct telephone calls to particular regions on a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). Other countries throughout the world have established their own telephone numbering plans that implement a variety of systems and methods to facilitate telephone calls within and outside of their respective telephone networks. Many countries have numbering plans that include a country code, area code, telephone number, and in some instances, an international prefix. The NANP is used in the United States and its territories, Canada, Bermuda, and many Caribbean nations.
Although the NANP established a ten-digit numbering plan, dialing plans are not consistent throughout many regions. This is due to multiple area codes serving the same area (called overlays) and toll alerting (a leading 1 required for toll calls). In areas without overlays and without toll alerting, calls within an area code are dialed as a seven-digit telephone number and calls outside the area code are dialed as 1 followed by a three-digit area code and seven-digit telephone number. Many areas allow dialing 1 followed by a ten-digit number even for calls that could be dialed as seven-digits. In areas with overlays, local calls are all dialed as ten-digit numbers. This is common in cities with dense populations. For example, Atlanta, Ga., currently has four area codes. In areas without toll alerting, all calls to numbers within the caller's area code and any overlays serving the same area can be dialed as either a ten-digit number or 1 followed by the ten-digit number. Calls to areas outside an area code must be dialed as 1 followed by the ten-digit number. In areas with toll alerting, all toll calls must be dialed as 1 followed by a ten-digit number. Many areas allow local calls to be dialed as 1 followed by a ten-digit number or just the ten-digit number.
In many countries, wireline and wireless number have different area codes. The NANP uses the same area codes for both wireline and wireless customers. This has increased the number of area codes needed per physical area, resulting in multiple area code overlays, as is evidenced by the four area code overlays in the Atlanta area. Eventually, new telephone numbering plans with additional digits will need to be implemented to facilitate the need for telephone communications.
Caller Identification service (Caller ID) for conventional PSTNs is a widely used and popular feature. Caller ID delivers information to a call recipient regarding the identity of the party attempting to place a call. As is known in the art, caller ID information is typically delivered to the call recipient between the first and second telephone rings of an incoming call. On Wireless networks, caller ID information is instead sent on the signaling channel during alerting. The caller ID information can include the telephone number from which the calling party is placing the call or can include both the telephone number and the name of the entity associated with that number in telephone company records. Typically, the feature is provided to subscribers at an additional cost.
If the recipient of the call has caller ID compatible devices, the caller ID information is displayed to the recipient while the phone is ringing. This allows the recipient to decide whether or not to answer the call based on the caller ID information and can prevent the recipient from being surprised by the identity of the caller upon answering the phone.
Many individuals are now electing to have their information removed from caller ID databases. This prevents caller ID subscribers from receiving caller ID from an individual that does not want their information to be displayed. This can be frustrating for a subscriber regardless of the reason for the removal. Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need exists to provide a system and method to retrieve and display caller information without compromising an individual's privacy.